Find Hettys Secret War Scripted By Rosie Clarke Offered In Volume

Secret War by Rosie Clarke is the final installment in Women at War Trilogy, It is early summer inin Yorkshire when Georgie Bridges receives the news that her husband, Arthur is ill and will soon pass away.
Georgie has had a good life with Arthur, and she will miss him when he is gone.
However, she has never stopped loving Ben Tarleton who is training for a special war mission, Georgie is happy to reconnect with Ben, but their time is short, Ben is soon sent overseas, and Georgie may never see him again,

Beth Rawlings is nineteen and has just finished her secretarial courses, Annabel offers her a job at Rowntree House Hotel, but Beth would like to spread her wings and help the war efforts.
She meets Captain Drew Bryant on the train and falls head over heels in love, When they receive word, that Drew is being deployed, they quickly marry, Beth keeps busy at her job with Arnold Pearson, but she soon discovers that she is with child.
Just before Beth is due, she receives a telegram that Drew is missing in action, Will Drew be found, or will Beth become a war widow

Hetty Tarleton has been living in Paris for ten years when war breaks out.
She is a free spirit and artist, Her friends encourage her to return to England, but Hetty does not wish to leave, With the Germans about to enter France, Hetty departs in her car where she navigates roads clogged with people trying to get out of France before it is too late.
After a horrific incident, Hetty meets Pierre de Faubourg who takes her to his familys home, Chateau de Faubourg.
Hetty becomes close with Pierres mother, Adele, She joins the resistance where she meets the enigmatic Stefan Lefarge, On one mission Hetty encounters the last person she expected to find in France, Hetty takes great risks fighting the German invaders, Will she make it through the war alive Join Hetty, Beth, and Georgie as they struggle to survive World War II in Hettys Secret War.


Hettys Secret War can be read as a standalone, but you will find it confusing in the beginning.
I suggest you read Jessies Promise and The Runaway Wife before embarking on Hettys Secret War, You will have a better understanding of the characters and their situations, I have always found World War II a fascinating time period I would not have wanted to experience it though.
Women were encouraged to work outside the home and take on tasks that were previously done by men.
It was a difficult time, but people rallied together for the war effort, This is what we see in Hettys Secret War, I found the story nicely written with a variety of characters in different situations, There is foul language and intimate scenes included in the book fair warning, While the book focused on Hetty, Beth and Georgie, we also catch up with Annabel, I like how the separate characters stories intertwined to create one charming book, They face losses and experience heartache, but there is joy as well, Hetty experiences danger and life threatening situations, Despite the hardships, they continued to have hope and faith as well as the comfort of family and friends.
The ending had me smiling, Hettys Secret War is an emotional novel that will touch your heart,
Lovely read

Rosie Clarke is fast becoming one of my favourite go to authors.
Loved this 'women at war' trilogy, each book had its own unique story but the characters were nicely linked over thebooks.
A warm heartfelt read I enjoyed this book, I hadnt read the previous two but that wasnt a problem,

It is set across the UK and France and mainly focused on Hetty, Georgie amp Beths lives.


It was wellwritten and unpredictable in parts, I would also love to read he first books as I really felt drawn to these strong female characters amp would love to know more about their lives before WW.
Such a great book. I love this genre and Rosie Clark is a beautiful storyteller, I was hooked from the first page and read it in one weekend, I cant wait for her next book, This is the third book in the Women at War series, for those readers, like me who havent read the previous two books, there is a comprehensive summary at the beginning of the book, with character details and significant events explained and noted.


The story reads well as a standalone, but the characters are complex and the previous storylines intriguing, so that I wish Id read the whole series.
There is a distinctive writing style, in keeping with the time period and some of the dialogue seems a little stilted, but you get used to this, as the characters are believable and easy to like and the plot has many twists.


There is a satisfying balance of action, angst, historical detail and surprisingly sensual romance in this story.
Focused primarily on Hetty as she fights a secret war in occupied France, the story also features, Georgie, Beth and to a lesser extent Annabel and Jessie, characters featured in more detail in previous books.
Hettys story is exciting and shows her character development well,

The plot is interesting and wellpaced and the characters are authentic to the time period but endear themselves quickly to the reader, so you become absorbed in their stories and want them to find happiness and peace as World War Two draws to a close.


An enjoyable, historical read, with notable characters and an intriguing plot,

I received a copy of this book from Aria Fiction via NetGalley in return for an honest review.
Many thanks to NetGalley and ariafiction for allowing me to read and review an advance readers copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.


I have read and enjoyed a number of other books by Rosie Clarke but this was the first book that I've read in this series.
As such I did find it a little confusing at first figuring out all the different characters and what their background stories were.
I would recommend to other readers that it might be best to start with the first book in the series before starting this one.


The story focuses on the lives of three different women Hetty, Georgie and Beth, All three are connected to each other at least peripherally, Hetty was rather a free spirit who wasn't bothered by the norms of society at the time.
She had moved to Paris while young to be with a man but when the relationship ended had stayed there and established herself to the point where she felt Paris was more her home than England.
As war loomed she delayed making a decision to return to safety in England until it was too late.
In a desperate last minute effort to evacuate she was exposed to the realities of war and all it's horror and ultimately stayed to fight and do her bit for the resistance in France.


As the story begins Georgie loses her husband, an older man that she had married when the man she really loved married someone else.
Georgie loved her husband but was never in love with him and discovers that in reality this was not enough for him leaving her with a burden of guilt.
When she reconnects with her original love and begins a relationship with him in spite of the fact he is still married she also throws aside convention to be with him whenever she can.
Her home is taken over for war purposes and she moves back to be closer to family and friends of the past.
When her lover goes overseas in a secret capacity, she waits and worries and wonders what will happen to him.
Then news arrives.

The last character is Beth, who was orphaned and basically raised by others who loved her and treated her as one of their own.
She meets a young pilot, falls in

love, marries and is quickly pregnant, She still wants to do her part in winning the war and works in London until her pregnancy makes it too difficult to continue.
When word comes that her husband is missing and eventually declared dead she has choices to make.


The story of these women and how they became involved in war efforts was an interesting one but didn't grab me as much as some of the other books that I have read by Rosie Clark.
Again, I wonder if it would be different if I had read the first two books and really felt like I had gotten to know the characters.
Hettys war

another thrilling and intriguing look at life during the war by rosie was heartstopping and heartbreaking rolled into one hope there is more to come from this family WWI and II both fascinate me.
The stories thrown up are intense and emotional always, Survival in the face of hardship, persecution, then the separation sometimes temporary most often permanent from loved ones, the fear of the unknown, the missing.
Then you get immense stories of courage of ordinary men and particularly women who took up the challenge at every level.
The stories are never dull

This was another good one,

Three separate people linked by the War, Georgie the only man she loved gone on a secret mission as a spy, Will he ever return It seems so sad that after waiting so long for happiness that it is snatched away from her.
We have Beth on the threshold of being a young woman, In love and marrying in such haste, Her husband in France. Every time the bell goes she is in suspense whether it is for her with the dreaded news.
When it does come she has to face it head on with a baby on the way.
Then we have Hetty who went away to France impetuously, Fled with a French lover, disillusioned by love and men, now caught in a no mans land with no way to return.


Each story was intense and Hetty's one though more dramatic than the other two all were equally emotional.
The losses which each woman faced in turn were really sad, Each waited for happiness, each was given it for a short time, then it was lost, The fact that they continued to live with faith and hope and finally found comfort and love was enlightening.


Beautifully told the three women were individually strong characters who grew with the story, Descriptive of both England and France at the time init brought everything alive,

Hettys Secret War is the third book in Rosie Clarkes Women at War series, I havent read either of the previous books in the series Jessies Promise and The Runaway Wife but Im pleased to say Hettys Secret War works perfectly well as a standalone.
However, it does contain references to significant events in the two previous books so it wouldnt be the place to start for readers planning to read the whole series.


The title and the book description give the impression that Hettys story is the main focus of the book but, although hers is certainly the most dramatic, the experiences of the books other female characters Beth and Georgie also play a major part.
And we shouldnt forget Hettys brother, Ben, who also has a pivotal role in the lives of at least two of the women and whose wartime experiences contribute to a very dramatic and compelling element of the book.


The outbreak of war sees all three women forced to confront changes in their personal lives and the end of the war will see them confronting others.
The book takes readers on an emotional journey revealing the trauma and loss that war can bring as well as the terrible uncertainty about the fate of husbands, lovers, brothers, sons.
It also demonstrates the important contribution of women in wartime, some in roles which involved just as much risk as those on active service.
It also has a chance meeting to rival Casablancas Of all the gin joints, in all the towns, in all the world, she walks into mine, albeit with a bit of role reversal.
I have to say this coincidence requires quite a high level of suspension of disbelief on the part of the reader.
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Talking of films, as someone who loves films set in World War, I particularly enjoyed Beths meeting with a handsome stranger on a train that could be straight out of thefilm In Which We Serve directed by Noel Coward in which Shorty Blake played by John Mills first meets Freda Lewis played by Kay Walsh on a crowded train.


I know Hettys Secret War will delight fans of the series and also readers who like a strong element of romance in their historical fiction and who arent adverse to a bit of bedroom action along the way with descriptions that at times leave not much to the imagination and seemed to me to be a little out of kilter with the tone of the rest of the book.
Reading the book, I was most struck by its message of the possibility of second chances and that companionship, affection and trust play just as important a part in the success of a relationship as those weak at the knees moments at the beginning of one.
Of course, the perfect solution is to combine both, Youll have to read the book to see if Hetty, Beth or Georgie end up in this happy situation.
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